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Skiing BC's Monashees

JOURNEY

Skiing BC's Monashees

96 total images

04 days

17 activities total

How do you get four friends who've skied every continent excited? Show us a new mountain! The light snow, deep powder and uncrowded conditions of the Monashee Mountains are just what a group of die-hard skiers like us need. This isn’t a typical ski resort. In fact, inexperienced skiers and snowboarders staying at Mustang Powder Lodge are cautioned away from many of the advanced runs. For lifelong skiers with backcountry know-how, it’s heaven on earth.

Day 1

Wheels on the bus

Cory had heard about cat skiing at Mustang Powder Lodge from a friend, and the four of us started planning our own trip the minute he mentioned it. When the right time arrived, we flew to Vancouver, packed our skis into our rental and followed the Trans-Canada Highway to the majestic Monashee Mountains near Revelstoke, British Columbia. The snow was waist deep on either side of the road when we arrived! A guide was waiting to chauffeur us in a yellow school bus that took us further down the mountain road. Then we transferred into a cat machine that looked like a cross between a child's toy and a small tank. As we approached the lodge, we started imagining the epic ski runs that we'd be tackling the next morning.

Day 2

Steep and deep

Today’s priority was powder. We climbed into the cat machine and rode comfortably up the slopes. After a lifetime riding chairlifts, being driven to the top of the run was a luxury that we all agreed we could get used to. The rest of the day was spent riding waves of waist-deep powder to the bottom of the run, where the cat would be waiting to take us right back to the top. None of us had ever skied in snow this light and deep before. After an epic afternoon on the slopes, we rode back to the lodge for a hearty meal and a night spent telling ski stories around the fire.

Day 3

Making tracks

The crunching of snow against caterpillar tracks signaled the beginning of another adrenaline-filled day on the slopes. The cat machine delivered us effortlessly to the top of the run, leaving us free to lay first tracks in the untouched powder that had dusted the mountainside the night before. We continued this cycle of easy climbs and screaming descents for the entire day, until our legs couldn’t handle another trip down the hill. Returning triumphantly to the lodge, we shifted our focus from racing down the slopes to racing into the hot tub.

Day 4

Above the trees

We spent the morning horsing around at the lodge before Trish shared an inspired idea: “Why don’t we ask our guide to take us as high up the mountain as possible?” Within an hour, we were standing above the tree line staring out at an endless expanse of bluebird sky. We raced down the pristine slopes feeling like we were descending from the top of the world, only to be taxied back up for another go. If there were more perfect conditions for a day of cat skiing, we couldn’t picture them. Back at the lodge, we recharged with a gourmet meal before making a special request to go night skiing. As we glided across the moonlit mountainside, we knew that even though it was the final night of our trip, this would not be the last time we skied the Monashee Mountains.